Pandawa / Chapter 1(1) - Dream -

Flames . . .

I stood amidst the carnage, surrounded by countless lifeless bodies scattered at my feet.

I had lost count of how many corpses I had passed by.

And then . . . through the blaze, I saw her—a small girl standing with her back to me, distant and alone.

I approached cautiously, clinging to a faint hope that perhaps, someone had survived this inferno.

Just as my trembling fingers reached out to touch her shoulder, she spoke:

"Was it all worth it?"

Her words froze me in my tracks.

"What did you say?" I whispered, my voice trembling.

The girl slowly turned, and in that moment, it was as if I were staring into a colossal mirror. The face that stared back at me was mine, drenched in blood, her piercing eyes boring into my soul.

Unknowingly, the girl had transformed . . . 

 . . . into . . .

. . . me.

"All that you've done . . . all the lives you've taken . . . has it brought peace to this land?"

When I opened my eyes again, the piles of bodies had vanished. The girl was gone.

No flames . . . no smoke.

 . . . The dream had ended.

Before me now lay the endless wilderness at the edge of the Majapahit Kingdom—a lush forest stretching as far as the eye could see. The cool, serene air was filled with the melodious calls of birds and the soft rustle of leaves whispering secrets to one another.

Once more, I murmured to myself, "The dream is over."